Local firm wins Pueblo West fire station bid after preferred contractor a no-show
A local construction company was awarded a $3.5 million contract to build a new fire station in Pueblo West Monday after the preferred bidder — a northern Colorado company — didn’t show up to present their bid to the Pueblo West Metro Board.
After Golden Triangle Construction, of Fredrick, was a no-show at the meeting, the board voted unanimously to award the contract to Nunn Construction.
Nunn's Pueblo division manager Vinnie Mattivi said the company is assembling a team that “has a commitment for the long haul” and includes members who “live just down the street” from where the new Pueblo West Fire Station 2 will be built.
Mattivi pointed out that 86% of Nunn’s workload comes from repeat customers. Although Nunn has built fewer fire stations than the preferred bidder, "It is not what type of project, but the process that we bring,” Mattivi said.
A committee made up of firefighters and architects initially recommended the board hire Golden Triangle Construction for the job, after determining it had the strongest bid. Pueblo West Fire Division Chief Tim Mitchell said the committee's recommendation was based on Golden Triangle’s experience building 48 fire stations.
However, board member Nick Madero indicated at the board's last meeting he would like to see the award go to a local contractor. So the board requested to hear presentations Monday from the top two bidders.
More Metro News: Pueblo West board delays decision on fire station contractor
“I am disappointed Golden Triangle did not show up to represent themselves. A multi-million-dollar contract should be worth showing up," said board member Jami Baker Orr.
Board Vice President Doug Proal and President Kim Swearingen also expressed disappointment.
“I have evaluated many proposals and if someone is not willing to come present, no matter how many times you ask them to present, then they are probably not worthwhile to spend our new tax with,” Swearingen said. “We have to represent the taxpayers' best interest.”
Board member Joe Mahaney questioned whether the company was promised the job, saying he got the feeling Golden Triangle was “under the impression they were chosen for the contract a long time ago.”
But the company was only presented “with an intent to award a contract," that was contingent upon board approval, said Emily Padilla, procurement analyst for the district.
The construction of the fire station will be funded by a voter-approved one-cent sales tax that has been collected since Jan. 1, 2021. It will be located near Katmando’s General Store, 607 S. McCulloch Blvd., and will serve the southwest region of Pueblo West.
Weed complaints focus of citizen comments
In other business, the board heard from two concerned citizens who complained about unsightly weeds in the district.
“I am a rabid, tenacious weed spotter and killer,” said Harry Singleton, a local resident who worked as a licensed weed control expert for more than 30 years. “Pueblo County has said they have no intention to help with the weeds and that pisses me off.”
Singleton volunteered to arm himself with a backpack sprayer and take care of some of the smaller patches of weeds for the district.
Another resident, Bernadette Warren, said when she moved to Pueblo West in 1986 expensive landscaping was required. She said new homeowners are letting their weeds grow and it seems the district is unwilling to enforce its codes.
Complaints about weeds are among those district board members hear about “every day” Baker Orr said, noting that a big part of the problem is that the district is understaffed. She urged residents to use the My Pueblo West app to report problem areas.
“When these people are volunteering, we should jump on that opportunity. That’s a dream and they are doing it because they love the place they live in,” Baker Orr said.
Proal pointed to the cost of code enforcement and noted that the district’s budget hasn’t changed in years. “It’s the reality that we are a special district experiencing a shortness of funds,” he said.
A new home for metro district offices
The Pueblo West Metro Board held a special meeting Friday to discuss purchasing the former ReMax building at 19 E. Abarr Drive in Pueblo West to house district offices. The district’s former headquarters was destroyed in March 2019 by a bomb cyclone weather event.
The board has since leased office space to accommodate district employees.
“We still hope to purchase the building. We went ahead and made a motion to contract with a real estate attorney who is negotiating with the seller," Swearingen said.
"We will see how that goes. They (sellers) seem to be in a bit of a hurry, but we don’t like to rush things and we want to make sure we are doing our due diligence," she said.
According to the Pueblo County Assessor’s website, the two-story building was constructed in 1995 and is owned by PW Investorama LLC. It is listed as having a total assessed valuation of $518,400.
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Chieftain reporter Tracy Harmon covers business news. She can be reached by email at tharmon@chieftain.com or via Twitter at twitter.com/tracywumps.
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Local firm to build Pueblo West fire station after top-bidder no-shows
